The Bugatti Chiron Just Set an Insane New Speed Record

As if the 1500 horsepower, $2.5 million, Bugatti Chiron didn’t impress us already, it has gone and set an eye-watering new record.

The speed generated by the quad-turbo, 8-liter W16 engine is legendary among car geeks, but its stopping power is equally impressive. Bugatti showed this off by enlisting Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya for a 0-400-0 challenge. That’s zero to 400 kph (249 miles per hour) back to a standstill. He did it in just 42 seconds.

At a long stretch of tarmac in a undisclosed location, Montoya hurled the Chiron to 12mph below its 261 mph top speed in 32.6 seconds and a distance of 1.62 miles. Then he hit the brakes, lifting the Chiron’s massive rear-wing and clamping the calipers on its huge 16″ carbon ceramic brake rotors. The car stopped dead in just 9.3 seconds.

But Volkswagen AG-owned Bugatti isn’t stopping there, and we can expect to see future record attempts from the brand including a world speed record for a production vehicle. The car it needs to beat? Bugatti’s own Veyron Super Sport, which hit 267.9 mph in 2010.